IHe Pillars E/den Philip Verrill Mighels C^ 281D THE PILLARS OF EDEN The Pillars of Eden A Novel BY PHILIP VERRILL MIGHELS AUTHOR OF "BRUVER JIM'S BABY" New York Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. Publishers Copyright, 1909, By DESMOND FITZGERALD, Inc. All Rights Reserved TO FRANCESCA 2137420 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. AN INTRODUCTION 1 II. THE WORM IN THE BUD 11 III. A BOLT FROM THE BLUE 19 IV. A COUP DE GRACE 25 V. THE TREACHERY COMPLETE 32 VI. THE LAMB AND THE LIONS . 37 VII. THE SQUIRRELS IN THE PARK 45 VIII. A MOOD OF HYMEN'S CALM . 50 IX. CHAUNCEY'S BELATED CONFESSION 56 X. A LETTER FROM HOME . 65 BOOK II I. 75 II. A VISITOR 1 1/ 82 III. BABE 88 IV. AN INSTRUMENT OF FATE . 94 V. MAE AND BEATRICE 99 VI. A LINGERING FONDNESS 107 VII. TEMPTATION .... 119 VIII. NEW ACQUAINTANCES . 124 IX. THE WAY OF A WIFE . 133 X. THE SMOLDERING SPAKE 141 vii Contents CHAPTER XI. THE OPENING DOOE OF TEMPTA- TION ...... XII. THE DANGEE LINE . . . XIII. A RESPITE ..... XIV. CONCERNING CHIVALET . . XV. THE LUEE OF FIEE . . . XVI. A LOSING FIGHT . . . . XVII. WILL SLOANE . . . . XVIII. VISITORS AND REVELATIONS . . XIX. UNCERTAINTY UNABASHED . . XX. ROSES AND RECKLESSNESS . . XXI. A TRAP FOR TROUBLE . . . XXII. WHEN LOVE is AT BAY . . . XXIII. THE NIGHT OF THE DOG . . XXIV. GOADED SOULS . . . . XXV. TICKETS FOR Two . . . XXVI. FIRST AID TO THE SHY . . . XXVII. THE LEAPING FLAME . . . XXVIII. AN INTERRUPTION . . . XXIX. THE CLIMAX ..... XXX. THE PILLARS OF EDEN . . . XXXI. OLD ORDERS THAT CHANGE . . XXXII. THE TIE THAT BINDS . . . XXXIII. THE TRIUMPH 153 159 171 180 201 209 217 225 230 241 251 263 272 278 286 291 302 308 322 328 336 341 CHAPTER I AN INTRODUCTION CROSWELL swung around the bend where the road dipped deeper into June. Beyond were richer greens and fields, new tree- forms cut against the sky, new argosies of soft, white clouds afloat in the luminous blue. With all the sunshine, breath of summer, riches of sky, and ineffable charm of the Jersey landscape en- ticingly unfolding before him, Adam marveled to find he could walk so far, on such a Sunday afternoon, and encounter so little of life. A gray old fence straggled crookedly off to a bridge across the river. Strawberries lifted their ruby red from the grass by the roadside path. The few that Adam picked and ate spilled color on his lips and hands as the sunshine spilled brightness in his eyes. He was loitering onwards towards the dusty bridge, his senses loath to relinquish the scene, when just up ahead he abruptly beheld another highway occupant, rushing in headlong madness down upon him. It was a small cream-colored pony, hitched to a tiny phaeton, with which it was running away. A child's hat, 1 The Pillars of Eden held by its ribbon, waved and gyrated wildly in the air as the pony galloped out upon the bridge. Adam had halted, alertly poised to spring for the bridle, throw on his weight and stop the little fury of a steed, should he manage to cross the bridge intact. The climax came a moment later. Frightened per- haps by the clatter he made on the loose old plank- ing of the structure, the pony lurched blindly and sharply to the right and disaster was there, crouched in waiting. The phaeton struck with violence against the wooden railing, that buckled inward towards the center. Then it snapped, fully ten feet ahead of the frightened little animal's nose. The wheels were flung inward, but instantly rebounded. With crashing of frail old scantlings and splinter- ing of posts, the entire outfit, pony, phaeton and railing, hung for one desperate moment above the quiet stream, then dropped a sheer fifteen feet and landed in the water. There, in the utter confusion of tangled harness, sinking wheels and shattered shafts, the pony struggled vainly, churning in mad- ness at the tide. But his nose went under despite his frantic struggles and, exhausted soon, he lay there helplessly drowning. Croswell had run swiftly forward. He leaped over parts of the railing that lay upon the planks and, looking down, beheld the pony's fatal plight. He did not hear a distant cry, from far up the road, be- neath the trees, nor did he observe a second horse 2 An Introduction racing swiftly towards him with a white-faced young woman in the saddle. He merely took time to swing himself down from the edge of the planks, to which he held for half a minute before he dropped, feet foremost, like a plum- met. He struck the water a short distance only above the wreckage of the phaeton, where he sank from sight, to bob up promptly and clutch the near- est strap. Then he thrust his hand in his pocket, drew forth a knife and set to work to slash away the harness. At the first of his movements the pony thrashed anew in violence. It was a futile paroxysm in which the tiny animal endeavored to kick or swim from the anchorage that held him there to perish. " Be still ! " said Adam, whose first concern was to cut a rein and a second strap that held the pony's head beneath the surface. " Whoa, boy, whoa," he added. " Take it easy or you'll get us both in trouble." He was baffled by an intricate mess into which the harness was woven. Somewhere beneath the surface there were traces or checks that bound the pony to his doom. Time after time he threw out his nose, to blow up a fountain like a spouting whale, barely in time to avoid the rush of water to his lungs. And despite the assuring voice so near at hand he labored once more in throes of agony. Adam now ducked beneath the surface, found a binding strap, and slashed it through. His head 3 The Pillars of Eden and the pony's half buried nose shot upward from the depths together. Even then his task of cutting the animal loose was hardly half commenced. He had scratched his forehead slightly and a thin line of red appeared above his eye. The blood was washed across his face by the dripping from his hair. Meantime the rider on the second horse had been for some time at the end of the bridge eagerly watch- ing the proceedings. She was an exceptionally beautiful young woman. The light of sheer uncon- scious admiration, burning in her soft brown eyes as she gazed at the man and his labors in the stream, lent a marvel of sweet, unstudied earnestness to her expression. She had made no sound since uttering her one involuntary cry when pony and phaeton dis- appeared from sight. She was absolutely silent now, her eyes intently fixed upon the struggle that she realized the man was making to liberate the horse. That she could offer no assistance she was perfectly aware. To cry out, or even to distract the man's attention from his task might merely serve to defeat his disinterested purpose. There was nothing to do but wait and project to him there all the aid of her sympathetic being. With his head above water the pony became more rational. The plunge had cooled his madness; the struggle had exhausted his strength. Adam was presently enabled to sever the last remaining bit of leather that secured the horse to the shafts. They 4 An Introduction sank in the current and freed his thrashing feet. Croswell took the bit in hand, for it still remained in the pony's mouth, while the tide swung them down- ward together. Both man and pony began to swim and were presently grounded where the river bank sloped easily upward from the bed. It was simply a matter of wading then, and, with the pony slightly limping, the two clambered up to the level of the road, face to face with the rider by the bridge. For a moment Adam gazed upon the young woman's face in silence. Then, for some reason he could not himself have explained, he smiled. He was dripping and muddy. His face was daubed and the red on his forehead had enlarged. Altogether he was wellnigh ludicrous as a spectacle, nevertheless the girl was not in the least amused. " I beg your pardon," he presently observed, " is this little bit of dampened ardor yours ? " She flushed to her temples. She knew him, despite the mud, the streak across his brow, and the fact they had not been introduced on the one occasion, a year before, when fate had drawn their orbits close together. " He no," she answered, wondering swiftly how long he might remain , in ignorance of her identity. " But I came to catch him if I could. Is he very badly hurt?" Such a sense of mysterious joy was creeping into Adam's heart, as he looked upon her countenance and 5 The Pillars of Eden listened to her voice, that he made no immediate reply. Then he started, as if from a dream. " Oh, no no yes perhaps lamed a little," he re- plied. " That's all unless he's full of Driver." " You were very kind. Oh, it was splendid ! " she told him honestly. " He belongs to some little friends of mine who live a mile up the road. I certainly could never have expected to see you jump in the river like that." Adam turned a trifle red. It was absolutely pre- posterous to feel such an unaccountable madness de- veloping in his being. " I'm very fond of swimming," he said. " But I'm afraid I spoiled the harness. . . . Shall I lead him home, wherever he belongs ? " " Oh, you have done so much already," said the frank young woman, into whose eyes a marvelous brightness had stolen. " I had better ride back for someone to relieve you of the care." " Oh, no don't go," he urged in boyish eagerness. " He ought to be taken at once. Couldn't I walk be- side you and lead him? It would make him feel easier and comforted. Besides, I like to lead ponies." " You're very wet," she answered. " If we had a rope I could lead him easily. You should get some dry clothing right away." " I haven't a rope, but one of the reins is hanging on the bridge," he told her hopefully. " If you could hold him just a minute " 6 An Introduction The girl slipped down from her saddle instantly and grasped the pony's bit. Adam hesitated momen- tarily, to look at her closely, in a puzzled way of joyance and wonder, then hastened to the broken rail, secured the rein, and returned. He was sure that June, with all her loveliness, had never produced a day so fair nor a goddess so wholly enchanting. Now that she stood upon the ground the rider was revealed to be just barely above the medium height. Even Adam, a man, could comprehend that much of the gracious, regal air she bore was not in the least a matter of height, but all in the manner of her poise. But if one of his glances instantly appraised the charm of her slender, supple figure, a dozen were cen- tered on her glowing face where the June day flowered in her smile. For with soft gray eyes she had black, curved brows, a wealth of the wild-rose tinting in her cheeks and the brightest sun-gold in her hair. With it all, upon her red, moist lips, and perhaps as much about her eyes dwelt a wistful look that was half a smile of the most inviting graciousness that ever made a woman sweet and trusting. That here was a woman, strong, full-lived and gracious, Adam by his instincts was assured. By what strange power she wove a spell that swept all his nature out through the day, with its fragrances, bird-song and glory, he neither knew nor cared to guess, as he hastened once more where she was standing. " You may not know it, but I think you're hurt," she said when he came with the broken rein to knot 7 The Pillars of Eden it in place about the pony's neck. " Your forehead is cut and bleeding." She proffered her dainty hand- kerchief for Croswell to employ. " Oh, I couldn't use that," he told her boyishly. " It can't be more than the merest scratch. Am I all daubed up? " " No, just a little. Will you wait a minute, please?" She left the horses in his charge, went quickly down to the river's edge, and, wetting the handkerchief, hurried back to hold it forth as be- fore. " Please take it," she added. " I wish you would." He had one of his own, all thoroughly damp, but her offer was not to be resisted. A faint, enchanting fragrance stole upon his senses as he pressed the soft fabric to his face. " You haven't taken it quite all off," she imparted after a moment of watching him rub at his brow. " Just there above your eye." He rubbed at eye and forehead recklessly. He had never been so happy in his life. " How's that? " he inquired. " All off? " " A little still just there." She stepped a trifle closer. " Perhaps I could if you wish " and she took the handkerchief graciously to minister to his needs. Despite the fact he must have appeared like a boy whose face is being washed of its natural accumula- tions, Adam felt his heart becoming wilder than the runaway pony, as she pressed the moist bit of linen 8 An Introduction on his brow. Her serious eyes were so near to his own ! and such lights were in their depths ! Again that intangible sense of recognition passed like a mist before his inner being. Memory, tentative and indistinct, was weaving strangely in his mind. " Haven't I seen you somewhere before ? " he asked as she finished her favor. " It seems to me we must have met that somewhere somehow " She shook her head. She had stepped away and was smiling upon him with a baffling beam of brightness in her eyes that excited his soul to new delights. " I am sure you never saw me," she said, " though I've known Mr. Adam Croswell only by sight for just about a year." He could only gaze at her blankly ; his puzzlement increased. " I confess I can't remember when " " Or where ? or who ? " she added, archly. " I am Chauncey's sister Chauncey Willets*. When you met him that day at Parkleigh, I remained in the carriage at the gate." " I knew it ! " said Adam. " I knew I'd seen I'd felt the same But your name isn't Willets? You're not living over here in Jersey ? " She smiled at the frankness of his catechism. " Oh, no, we're still in Long Island, at East Winog. Chauncey's my half brother only, and I've always pre- ferred the name of Rockland." " And isn't the first name Beatrice? " 9 The Pillars of Eden She laughed outright, the color burning warmly in her face. " Then perhaps you did see someone but Chaun- cey, after all." His eyes were fairly dancing as he looked his candid admiration. " You'll let this pony introduce us now ? " He held out his hand. Archly she answered, " If we need it." And losing her dainty palm and fingers in his big, hospitable clasp, she felt a tingling sense of joy that completed the current of his own. " But the pony's needs he ought to be taken home at once if you'll put me on my horse." Adam adjusted her horse's reins and lowered his hand for her boot. Trembling with wild June ec- stasy for the second in which she confided her weight to the strength of his arm, he could scarcely have told whether his heart leaped forth by her dainty foot or up in the saddle in her keeping. From her throne she looked brightly down upon him. " Thank you," she said. " Shall I take the pony's rein?" Adam answered : " I think we'd follow he'd fol- low, anyway. But I'll hold the strap in case we meet another river." They had scarcely more than started when three small boys and one small man came breathlessly run- ning down the shaded road in belated search for the pony. 10 CHAPTER II THE WORM IN THE BUD BY Adam Croswell's calendar an age had slipped away. But Adam had fallen so deeply in love he reckoned like a boy. As a matter of fact it was August's end, with the joyous current of his heart affairs swirling smoothly on its way, when a new and fateful element appeared upon the scene. Within a week of the meeting at the bridge Adam had gone to East Winog and bought himself a home. The village was charming, its distance from Gotham made commuting possible, and Adam longed for the open. Nevertheless, he had made the purchase primarily for the reason that Beatrice Rockland lived near at hand and thoroughly liked the little hamlet. The move had been consistent with Adam's char- acter. He was a strong, impulsive, boyish being, direct and determined in pursuit of his simple de- sires. He had come from the West, where his in- terests lay, requiring Eastern promotion. He re- tained a large measure of that frankness, credulity, and generosity that only the West may encourage. He was a handsome, big, sensitive product of en- 11 The Pillars of Eden viromnent and the hour, proud and light-hearted a combination of the keen, indomitable man of business and the fondest companion of the children. He had found in Beatrice Rockland a full-lifed complement of all his strength, yet a wiser, more restrained, less impetuous nature than his own, de- spite the warm flow in her veins. In his rapturous spirit he had love enough to spare to woo the roses growing on his lawn and the children growing in their homes. His roses had flourished; his tiny friends had responded no less to the sunshine of his nature; and Beatrice had felt her heart grow closer and fonder to his own than ever she had dared to let him know. Meantime with Willets, the one relation Beatrice possessed, he had waxed to most brotherly terms, de- spite the fact that Chauncey was not of the sturdy type, financially, physically, or morally. There was something woven in the fabric of Chauncey's being, however, that appealed to Adam's heart. He had never stopped to analyze his feeling towards this way- ward brother of the woman he loved, nor even to care for whys and wherefores. He had known him slightly for a year before the day when he and Beatrice met at the bridge across the river, and had since, until the present week, responded to Chauncey's endless needs with generous loan after loan. It was when he had tired of liquidating Willets' gambling debts, contracted in " the street," and had smilingly drawn the line at last, with Chauncey in 12 The Worm m the Bud one of his periodic throes of desperation, that the new and fateful element in all their lives was quietly introduced for then came Percy Graham. Graham was the one bit of ferment left in her fate when Beatrice Rockland, three years before, had thought she was starting life anew. He had loved her then ; he loved her still in the way of a man of his description. She had managed to shake off a cer- tain baneful fascination he had exercised upon her, apparently forever. She had hoped they might never meet again, when escape had been made complete. To-day as he sat in his smoking room, working his spell on Chauncey's will and glowing with promises and smiles, he seemed to Willets a new-made man to whom he was eager to tie. Indeed Percy Graham was not without a qualitj* of magnetism. He was tall, slender, faultlessly groomed, distinctly suave, and handsome. Neverthe- less, he was one of that type already a trifle past the zenith of his powers while still barely thirty years of age. His strength and his honor had flowered in his youth and the petals were ready to fall. His one significant financial success had been made within the year. It was on the strength of this that he had come to try for Beatrice again, with Chauncey for his aid. He reached far out across the table and dropped the ash from his cigarette in the hand of a fine bronze goddess supplicating the heavens for rain. " So it's just about as I stated, after all," he said. IS The Pillars of Eden " This fellow Croswell has been on hand since June and making himself pretty solid. They're engaged ? " Chauncey pulled at his thin mustache. " I suppose they are at least to all intents and purposes." " And Beatrice never mentions me? " " Not to me and I guess not to Adam." Graham inhaled a long, rich breath from his vanishing cigarette. He nodded slowly. " All the better. And don't you mention me either, now that I am here. We might as well get down to brass tacks, Chauncey, and find out where we stand. You're broke and in debt. Croswell has finally turned you down Oh, I know ; it's an easy guess. He's got an inside track on me, with Beatrice, which makes me need your help. And you need mine and there we are." Chauncey was puzzled, and looked it. Vaguely he comprehended that Graham had not entirely sur- rendered all hope concerning Beatrice, yet nothing supplied him the slightest hint as to what might be impending. " You need my help for what ? " he said. " You don't expect to beat him out with Sis? " Graham fixed him with a penetrative stare. " Wouldn't you rather like to see me ? " Chauncey shifted uneasily. " He might have helped me just this once if he means to be a decent sort of brother ! " "There you are," said Graham. "He didn't. 14 The Worm in the Bud I will. You're nearly five thousand to the bad. You've thought of blowing out your brains. My rights run prior to Croswell's anyhow. We'll help each other to the limit, you and I. You'll need an extra thousand to begin again when you've squared your little loss. Now let your brains alone, my boy, and we'll swear our little brotherhood and start things moving right away." He arose and went to his desk for pen and paper. Chauncey sat gaping at him blankly. A new sort of terror was upon him. He had not so much as thought of doing violence to his brains. The sug- gestion seized him with a sickening potency, such brutal matter-of-factness had accompanied Graham's speech. He was pale as his host returned with materials in hand. "What are you planning to do?" he said. "I don't believe I understand." " You will," said Graham, almost eating the last of his cigarette before he relinquished the stump. " You didn't suppose I meant to stand by and lose the finest woman in the world? Not to a man like Croswell. I heard of this a month ago, and I've heard of him before. I've been looking him up I know his tender spot, and everything's fair in love and war." He looked at Chauncey searchingly and beheld him ready clay. Willets wet his lips. His losses had 15 The Pillars of Eden made him nervous for a week; he had never been strong at the best. " You're going to put up some sort of a game ? Couldn't you work it by yourself leave me out of it, Percy and make me a loan " " Oh, let's be two men of business, not a pair of kids ! " Graham sat down so close to Chauncey's chair he could place his hands on the latter's knee, and rivet his eyes magnetically. " It isn't so very long you know since you forged since you made a very creditable imitation of another person's chirog- raphy, Chauncey, and I guess you could do it again." Chauncey was whiter than before, and terribly startled. " I can't I " " Oh, no come-back paper, don't you fret," Gra- ham interrupted, smilingly. " Nothing like that for me. Simply a letter from Beatrice that you'll take to Croswell yourself." " Something I'll have to write in her hand ? " " Something we'll compose here together and you'll put on her stationery, yes." Chauncey pulled at the growth on his lip and tried to smile. " That wouldn't do you any good in the world. They're too far gone for that. No letter could " " Leave it to me to put in the crimp," interrupted Percy. " This Croswell is eas